Last updated: March 14, 2024
Place
Information Panel: A Song Of Thanks
Photo: NPS / Claire Hassler
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
During WWII, the US helped liberate the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. After the war, the US helped rebuild European economies. The people of the Netherlands gave Americans this carillon to thank them.
A carillon is a percussion instrument of bells. Each bell in this town is bronze and inscribed with poetry and emblems. The bells represent various aspects of Dutch society such as art, science, agriculture, the youth of the Netherlands, and more.
When a musician plays, they use a large keyboard of pegs in the top level of the tower. Wires connect each peg to a clapper that strikes a bell. The keyboard of pegs is laid out like a piano keyboard.
The bell that makes the lowest musical note is six feet nine inches wide and weighs 12,654 pounds. The highest note comes from a bell that is eight inches wide and weighs 26.5 pounds.
In 1954, 49 bells were installed in a temporary structure in West Potomac Park. While the bells rang from there, construction on a permanent carillon began here.
Dutch architect Joost W.C. Boks designed the 127-foot-tall tower. The geometric design recalls the style of Dutch artist Piet Mondriaan. The tower was the first modernist steel memorial on the National Mall.
On May 5, 1960, the bells were celebrated in their new permanent home, the Netherlands Carillon. May 5 is Liberation Day in the Netherlands. It marks the end of Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during WWII.
In 1995, 50 years after WWII, Netherlands Prime Minister Kok presented President Clinton with a 50th bell.
In 2022, after a two-year rehabilitation project, the carillon was rededicated. Three more bells were added, making this a "grand carillon" with 53 bells total. One bell is for General George C. Marshall who helped rebuild Europe after WWII with the Marshall Plan. Another commemorates First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's advocacy for human rights. The final of the three new bells honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s lifelong work advancing civil rights.
Two bronze lions guard the carillon. Cast by Dutch sculptor Paul Koning , these lions symbolize the Dutch royal family. In spring, thousands of tulips decorate the grounds.
A carillon is a percussion instrument of bells. Each bell in this town is bronze and inscribed with poetry and emblems. The bells represent various aspects of Dutch society such as art, science, agriculture, the youth of the Netherlands, and more.
When a musician plays, they use a large keyboard of pegs in the top level of the tower. Wires connect each peg to a clapper that strikes a bell. The keyboard of pegs is laid out like a piano keyboard.
The bell that makes the lowest musical note is six feet nine inches wide and weighs 12,654 pounds. The highest note comes from a bell that is eight inches wide and weighs 26.5 pounds.
Harmony of Friendship
The Netherlands Carillon has moved around the Washington, D.C. area and grown over time. In 1952, Queen Juliana presented the carillon symbolically to President Truman in Meridian Hill Park.In 1954, 49 bells were installed in a temporary structure in West Potomac Park. While the bells rang from there, construction on a permanent carillon began here.
Dutch architect Joost W.C. Boks designed the 127-foot-tall tower. The geometric design recalls the style of Dutch artist Piet Mondriaan. The tower was the first modernist steel memorial on the National Mall.
On May 5, 1960, the bells were celebrated in their new permanent home, the Netherlands Carillon. May 5 is Liberation Day in the Netherlands. It marks the end of Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during WWII.
In 1995, 50 years after WWII, Netherlands Prime Minister Kok presented President Clinton with a 50th bell.
In 2022, after a two-year rehabilitation project, the carillon was rededicated. Three more bells were added, making this a "grand carillon" with 53 bells total. One bell is for General George C. Marshall who helped rebuild Europe after WWII with the Marshall Plan. Another commemorates First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's advocacy for human rights. The final of the three new bells honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s lifelong work advancing civil rights.
Two bronze lions guard the carillon. Cast by Dutch sculptor Paul Koning , these lions symbolize the Dutch royal family. In spring, thousands of tulips decorate the grounds.